For an instant, she felt nothing. Not even the tang of cold metal against her skin. “It’s noth—” She caught her breath. A slow, almost insistent heat was beginning to radiate from her finger.

“What is it?” Malcolm asked, leaning forward, his gaze fastened on her face. “What do you feel?”

“I feel…” Bloody hell, what did she feel? Her entire hand was warm, her arm tingled, and now her breasts were beginning to shimmer with heat.

Malcolm blinked. “Kat, love. Are you well? Your face—” He gripped her arms. “Kat?”

She gasped. Heat arced from her breasts to her stomach and then lower. Somehow, she saw St. John. Saw his face above hers…felt his hands on her body…felt his hips against hers…She clenched her teeth against the onslaught of emotion and feeling. It was as if every thought she’d ever had, every feeling, was suddenly thrown into her heart at once. It was almost too much to bear.

Her entire body trembled and ached, and it took every ounce of her strength to grasp the ring and yank it from her finger. The second it broke free, she sagged, her breath wrung from her lips.

“My God, Kat!” Malcolm’s arm was the only thing that kept her from falling down. He took the ring from her lax fingers. “Are you well? What happened? Is it your heart? Good God, Kat, talk to me!”

“I—I’m fine,” she said, her voice trembling. “I just didn’t have any breakfast and I—” She couldn’t finish the falsehood. She took a shuddering breath and pushed his arm free of her shoulders, moving back, away from him, away from the ring. “I’m fine now. Really I am.”

His face was pale. “Are you certain? Perhaps you should go into the cottage and lie down a bit.”

“No, no. I’m fine. I just got a wee bit dizzy was all.” Her entire body ached, her heart still raced.

Malcolm looked at the ring a long moment, a queer expression on his face. Then he slid it into his pocket as carefully as if it had been made of crystal. “I will return it.”

“Yes.” She pressed her hand to her forehead, trying to still the turmoil in her mind. What had just happened? She’d never felt such a reaction, such heat, and certainly never from a mere ring. It almost felt as if…Her cheeks colored. No. Surely not.

Malcolm untied his mount from the railing and led it forward. “I’msorry, Kat. If I’d realized…” He paused, a dawning look spreading across his face. “Kat! If the ring gave you such a strong reaction, then you must be—”

“The wrong woman for Mr. St. John,” she said, far more steadily than she felt.

Malcolm shook his head. “No, no! If the ring—”